On Thursday, September 17th 2009 CAASE, along with our community partners The Polaris Project, the Women of Power Alumni Association, Schiller Du Canto and Fleck Family Law Center and DePaul University College of Law, The Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault, and Voices and Faces Project, launched the campaign "End Demand, IL." This campaign is a multi-year organizing and advocacy effort to transform Illinois' response to prostitution and sex trafficking.

The event was a resounding success, attended by over 220 individuals. Panelists included: renowned academic, lawyer and feminist activist Catharine Mackinnon; the former Ambassador to the U.S. Trafficking in Persons Office and current Executive Director of the Polaris Project Mark Lagon; Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart; and Chief Ernie Brown from the Chicago Police Department Organized Crime Bureau.

Highlights from the event included a short film about the campaign by documentary film maker Larissa Malarek, an introduction to the campaign by representatives from two foundations supporting the campaign (Kelly White from the Chicago Foundation for Women and Jennifer Buffett from the NoVo Foundation) a keynote address by Catharine Mackinnon, and questions posed to the panelists by youth.

To learn more about the campaign, and to stay abreast of the activities of "End Demand, IL", please visit: www.enddemandillinois.org.